T.S. Eliot spoke of the “permanent things,” which Russell Kirk famously described as “those elements in the human condition that give us our nature, without which we are as the beasts that perish.” Lawyers and others from around the United States attended the inaugural gathering, which featured engaging presentations on the theme of "Law and the Permanent Things" by the Honorable Stephen Markman, Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court; the Honorable Joseph Scoville, Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan (Ret.); Gerald Russello, attorney and author of The Postmodern Imagination of Russell Kirk; and Dr. Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.